ABSTRACT
Afghanistan is an ancient country that has been a point of contention for centuries, largely due to its strategic location along what the United States government refers to as the "land bridge" for trade between eastern Asia and the West. As well, north-south routes from the Middle East to the Asian subcontinent traverse what is now Afghanistan; among those who passed through the area and left a mark was, for instance, Alexander the Great. The Soviets invaded Afghanistan in December 1979, adding a sense of urgency to the new geopolitics of the region. Their apparent intent was to prop up communist rule in Afghanistan, which had been imposed by Afghan communists in 1978 but was faltering amid in-fighting between factions within the Afghan Communist Party. The Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, of course, turned out to be a disaster that helped contribute to the demise of the Soviet Union.
